Sunday, February 13, 2011

Soccer Mom? Not really....

Apparently I am listed as a “soccer mom blogger” on a soccer web page. Now that is funny as all hell, because even though I ferry the boys to and from soccer practice and games every week, this is SO not my thing. I have never liked soccer. I played for one year when I was about 13, and I hated it. Not sure why, as I love other ball sports (basketball and volleyball in particular). The only thing I could come up with is that the latter two sports are generally played indoors, with the exception of beach volleyball, which I’ll play anytime anywhere.

Right now I am sitting in the minivan, Nick and Renee are playing on their DSi’s, and Ethan is practicing his soccer. Outside. In the pouring rain. I don’t think I’d have such an issue with soccer if it was played in the spring or summer. But playing in the fall and winter in the lower mainland of BC just doesn’t cut it. The poor kid is in so many layers that there is no possible way he could injure himself playing. I guess coming from a safety geek that is a bonus.

Soccer season here starts in late September. Weather is generally good until mid October, and that is when the monsoons start. October and November are generally wet wet wet, and December it is cooler, so the wet wet wet turns to ice ice ice. January rolls around, and playing conditions still suck. February the monsoons generally hit again, and keep going until March, when soccer season is over.

Vancouver is known for many things, one of them being the rainy weather. In fact, there are many ways to describe the rain here. Meteorologists don't just say "rain", they give us different terms to explain how long and how intense the rain will be. When talking about how long, they might say "brief", "intermittent", "occasional" or "frequent". And believe it or not, there is a difference between "showers" and "rain". Apparently when the forecaster says it is going to rain, it essentially means that we are going to get soaked. Showers on the other hand, have a shorter duration than rain (who knew?).

At any rate, wet is wet, and soccer pretty much sucks when we are standing on the sidelines freezing and holding our golf sized umbrellas trying to stay dry. The kids on the other hand love it. The more mud and dirt, the better. Sigh.